Category: Midwest US

What’s Your Plan?

In the years heading into “the Great Recession, a major concern for businesses was the coming brain drain, which would be caused by Boomers retiring in droves from the workplace, and taking with them their vast technical skills, historical knowledge,…

US Manufacturing Showed Signs of Rebounding in February

After reporting some contraction over the last five months, US manufacturing activity in February showed signs of a bounce back in the most recent ISM Manufacturing index. “Brad Holcomb, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Survey Business Committee, said in an…

Unemployment Sneaks Down To 4.9%

While global economic fluctuations sent the stock market on a wild ride in January, the US unemployment rate dropped another 0.1% to 4.9%, which is its lowest level since February 2008. Economists are projecting some more wage and inflation pressure…

Cheap Gas Moves Cars

Cheap oil continues to help and hurt US manufacturing.  The automotive industry led manufacturing losses during the recession but has been an area of strength and growth for US manufacturing in the last few years.  Sales of cars and light…

US Down To 5% Unemployment

Manufacturing has been flat the last couple of months, but the overall economy seems to be doing well. We are now at 5% unemployment which is considered the threshold for full employment by the Fed and many private economists. This…

The Talent Gap Widens

Even with the recent fluctuations in Chinese and European economies, US Manufacturers are still seeing growth throughout most segments, and economists expect that trend to continue.  More and more manufacturing executives are concerned about attracting, training, and retaining talent to…

Fundamental Economic Data Still Strong

US Unemployment is at record lows, but may be sneaking up a little in the next few weeks as global markets fluctuate a bit.  At 5.3%, unemployment is now almost half of its peak of 10% in October 2009.  The…

Manufacturers Poised For Solid 2nd Half of Year

The Institute for Supply Management recently reported that its purchasing managers’ index edged up to 53.5 in June from 52.8 in May.  The ISM report showed factory orders and employment in June stood at their highest readings since December 2014. …